Canadian women’s record holder in the marathon finished obsessing over body image

Kristen Odland, Calgary Herald05.30.2014

Lanni Marchant celebrates after crossing the line to set a new Canadian record at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon with a time of 2:27:59 last October. She will be running the half marathon in Calgary on Sunday.

Lanni Marchant’s Twitter account (@LJM5252) proclaims she is a Canadian Marathoner, American criminal trial lawyer, burger connoisseur, and lover of beer.

And, the 30-year-old London, Ont., native will tell you straight up that she really, really, loves her burgers and beer.

But not on that list is the fact Marchant is Canada’s fastest female at the 42-kilometre distance, a title she claimed by smashing the country’s 28-year-old record at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October with a time of two hours, 28 minutes. Not on the list is the fact that she was Canada’s fastest female at the Boston Marathon last month, 14th overall in the women’s division, clocking a 2:30:34.

Not on the list is that she graced the covers of Canadian Running Magazine and, locally, Calgary’s Impact Magazine.

And, also not on the list is the fact that to accomplish those feats, Marchant has dealt with serious body image issues that plague many long-distance female runners, often to the point of injury.

“The one side of it is, you drop five pounds, you’re going to run faster,” Marchant explained as she waited to board a flight to Calgary to run in Sunday’s Scotiabank Calgary Marathon. “Your VO2Max increases instantly so you’re going to run faster and better. You’ve lost weight and you’re running better so you think, ‘I’m going to lose more weight and I’ll run better.’ If you look at what the top runners look like and you see these really, really skinny women out there, running really, really fast. A lot of female runners, I think, think they need to look that way to run fast. Which is unfortunate.”

And, these days, it’s not making any sense.

The perspective, she said, is shifting.

“I think you see a lot more strong runners out there running really fast,” said Marchant who ran steeple chase at Michigan State University where she also studied law. “We realize that we can’t do it and be waifs. Our bodies break down . . . there’s a different look to the muscle (with a strength component) and you can see that it’s healthy versus racing in the NCAA. I was always one of the biggest girls lining up and I was chronically injured. But that was always because I was always chasing to look like the girls I was lining up against.”

For Marchant, a light bulb switched on when she stopped comparing.

“And then I started running faster than them,” she said. “I was like, ‘OK. Why didn’t think about this when I was 22. It’s unfortunate because there aren’t a lot of female coaches out there, watching over and looking after the female athletes.

“Boys don’t really want to talk about body image issues. You see a lot of women going through it and we, as women, don’t call them out on it either. It’s frustrating and sad to see.”

Truth be told, Marchant, who is a lock for the Canadian team headed to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow based on her time in Toronto, has been waiting a long time for the breakthrough.

Marchant placed fourth at the Canadian 10-KM championships in 2011. That same year, she ran a 2:44 at the Chicago Marathon and then, in 2012, she finished the Rotterdam Marathon in 2:31:50. Frustrating, however, because her time met the IAAF qualifying standard of 2:37 but did not meet the Canadian Olympic ‘A’ standard of 2:29:55 — meaning that she did not represent Canada at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Still, she pressed on and attributes the recent successes to taking better care of herself.

“For me, when I started feeding the engine and feeding my body, I was able to train more which then let me train harder which let me run faster,” said Marchant who is a criminal lawyer in Tennessee where she was an intern. “It’s been basically since the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013, I’ve been really trying to listen to the body.”

That means if she’s worn out but her training schedule says she needs to fit in a five-mile run — “Because, this is the way runners think, if you don’t get in that run, you’re going to gain weight or get out of shape” — she’ll rest instead.

But, based on the way she is performing and her attitude, it doesn’t ake much to see she is a role model.

“When I did the cover of Canadian Running, I didn’t want them touching anything up,” said Marchant who’ll be running the half-marathon distance in Sunday’s race. “I told them they could whiten my teeth . . . and that was all they could touch up on me. I don’t look like your typical marathoner and I’m happy about that.

“The average woman who is going to buy that magazine is a weekend warrior or an age group runner or women that are just getting into running. I don’t want them to think they have to look a certain way based on the fastest Canadian female marathon runner that’s on the cover right now.”

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Share

Canadian women’s record holder in the marathon finished obsessing over body image

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.